In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent lawsuit against the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Lauren Weber wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal that prompted today's conversation titled, “Sundays Are Sacred at Chick-fil-A. The U.S. Says a Worker's Saturday Sabbath Is, Too.” The restaurant is known for giving employees Sundays off to observe the Christian Sabbath, but found themselves being sued for denying an employee's request to have Saturdays off. Her denomination, the United Church of God, observes the Sabbath on Saturdays. So which day should the church observe? And what, really, defines a Sabbath?

The practice of observing a Sabbath day is something that has been declining among people who would consider themselves Christ followers. However, God felt that this was such an important part of our lives that the call to observe the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church simply titled, “Ten,” which explored the biblical and cultural significance of each of the Ten Commandments. You can find that series at Church & Culture HERE.

As Dr. White explained, as a society we've so overly cluttered our lives that it's hard for so may of us to even wrap our heads around taking a day to rest and renew. He referenced an old article from Newsweek featuring Neil Rudenstine, the (then) president of Harvard University, who once faced extreme exhaustion. It was titled “Breaking Point,” and you can read that article HERE.

He also discussed a 2025 Forbes article about how an increasing number of employees are taking sabbaticals, something that's really helping with career longevity. You can read the article titled “Why More Professionals Are Taking Sabbaticals—And How It's Transforming Work And Well-Being” HERE.

Dr. White referenced a recent announcement from the American Academy of Pediatrics updating their policy statement on the need for children to return to more play. He used this as inspiration for a recent Church & Culture blog titled “We All Need Recess,” which you can read HERE.

Finally, Dr. White discussed the importance of the church needing to teach on topics related to rest and the Sabbath. In addition to the series “Ten,” we'd encourage you to check out another recent series that he gave called “Quieting Your Life.” This series explored the call to quiet ourselves, how we need to be quiet and seek quiet, and the significance of a daily quiet time. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the newest parent in town - the “beta mom.” From tiger moms to helicopter moms to dolphin moms, as a culture we love to find labels for the myriad of ways to parent. As the title of the article in the Wall Street Journal (which prompted today's conversation) put it, “The Era of the Tiger Mom Is Over. Enter the Beta Mom.”

This is not the first time that parenting and the cultural challenges that both young people and their parents are facing has been a topic of the podcast. Here are a collection of past episodes that we think you might like to go back and listen to if you missed them:

CCP188: On Cultural Attacks on Parental Authority

CCP176: On Parents and Grandparents

CCP124: On Parenting Being Hazardous to Your Health

CCP98: On Generation Alpha

CCP70: On Social Media and Mental Health

CCP60: On Gentle Parenting

Parenting has also been the focus of a number of message series that Dr. White has given at Mecklenburg Community Church over the years. You can find those gathered under the “Marriage and Family” category on Church & Culture HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the rise in popularity of a very unusual type of church in the U.S. - psychedelic churches. The largest church of this kind is Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants in Oakland, CA, which currently has about 130,000 members and “places psilocybin mushrooms at the center of their religious practice” according to an episode on NPR. Now the drugs aren't free, of course - you have to pay for the service. So is there anything beyond the obvious that is a draw for people to attend a church like this?

There are two other articles that you may find helpful to read related to today's conversation, particularly tied to the legality of psychedelic churches:

Hayley Sanchez, “This church holds psychedelic rituals. But that's not what keeps people coming back,” NPR.

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly, “Inside the US's psychedelic church boom, where taking drugs is legal,”
The Guardian.

There are three past podcast episodes that we'd suggest you go back and listen to if you missed them. The first is a recent episode that Alexis mentioned: CCP195: On Dreams and Interpreting Dreams. The second is a look at whether it's okay for a Christian to partake in using drugs and alcohol: CCP74: On Smoking Marijuana and Drinking Wine. And finally, as the conversation touched on hypnosis you can check out this one: CCP3: On Hypnosis and Meditation.

Dr. White steered the conversation to the importance of fasting found throughout the Bible, and how this is such a contrast from what the psychedelic churches are pursuing. He did a series at Mecklenburg Community Church that you may be interested in checking out called “Fast Forward,” which you can find HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.